Microsoft has announced the availability of Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) for Windows XP, available via free download. With this release, Microsoft is strongly encouraging web developers, enthusiasts and IT professionals to finalize their testing and ready their environments for the final availability of IE7.
Microsoft is confident that developers and designers who optimize their web sites and applications with this build will be compatible with the final version when it is released later this year. For an easy path to compatibility, Microsoft encourages technical audiences to use the Readiness Toolkit accessible via free download.
Throughout the development of Internet Explorer 7 Microsoft has encouraged and listened to customer feedback. The RC1 build includes improvements in performance, stability, security, and application compatibility. Additional enhancements include:
IE7 RC1 is available in English now, and all localized versions of RC1 will be available in September including Arabic, Finnish, German, and Japanese as well as the French and Spanish versions which will be available for the first time.
As previously announced Microsoft will also distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates soon after the final version is released for Windows XP later this year.
Related links: (Open in a new window.)
www.microsoft.com/ie
blogs.msdn.com/ie/
www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.mspx
Taken from Information Security Bulletin.